Roy E. Plotnick Publications
Mazon Creek
Plotnick, R. E., G. A. Young, and J. W. Hagadorn. 2023. An abundant sea anemone from the Carboniferous Mazon Creek Lagerstӓtte, USA. Papers in Palaeontology 9(2):e1479. Winner of the Best Paper Award!
Arthropod Paleobiology
Eldredge, N., and R. Plotnick. 1974. A revision of the pseudoniscine merostome genus Cyamocephalus Currie. American Museum Notivates 2557:1-10.
Plotnick, R. E. 1990. Paleobiology of the arthropod cuticle. Pp. 177-196. In D. G. Mikulic, ed. Arthropod Paleobiology. Short Couses in Paleontology. Number 3. Paleontological Society.
Plotnick, R. and D. Elliott. 1995. A new eurypterid from the Devonian of the Canadian Arctic. J. Paleontology 69:399-401.
Plotnick, R. 1997. Eurypterids. p. 208-210 IN Shabica, C. and A. Hay (eds.) Richardson's Guide to the Fossil Fauna of Mazon Creek. Northeastern Illinois University
Plotnick, R. 1999. Llandoverian-Lochkovian eurypterid communities. P. 106-131. IN: Boucot, A. and J. Lawson (ed.) Paleocommunities: A Case Study from the Silurian and Lower Devonian. Cambridge University Press.
Lofgren, A. S., R. Plotnick, and P. Wagner, 2003. Morphological diversity of Carboniferous arthropods and insights on disparity patterns through the Phanerozoic Paleobiology 29(3):350-369
Plotnick, R.E. and D. M. Smith 2012. Exceptionally preserved fossil insect ears from the Eocene Green River formation of Colorado. Journal of Paleontology 86:1039-1044.
Stigall, A. L., R. E. Plotnick, and L. E. P. Boush. 2017. The first Cenozoic spinicaudatans from North America. Journal of Paleontology 91(3):467-476.
Antonietto, L. S., L. E. Park Boush, R. E. Plotnick, and A. L. Stigall. 2020. Paleoecological aspects of Western United States nonmarine ostracods during the Eocene–Oligocene transition: The Early Oligocene faunas of the Renova Formation, Southwestern Montana. PALAIOS 35(4):165-174.
Collette, J. H., and R. E. Plotnick. 2020. Redescription, paleogeography, and experimental paleoecology of the Silurian phyllocarid Gonatocaris. Journal of Paleontology 94(5):906-921.
Novack-Gottshall, P. M., and R. E. Plotnick. 2021. Correcting a 135-year error: Limulidae Leach, 1819 (Chelicerata, Xiphosura) is the proper authority, not Limulidae Zittel, 1885. Journal of Paleontology 95(4):886-887.
Plotnick, R. 2021. Devonian eurypterids from Indiana and Pennsylvania. Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan 33(2): 5-16.
Schmidt, M., R. R. Melzer, R. E. Plotnick, and R. D. C. Bicknell. 2022. Spines and baskets in apex predatory sea scorpions uncover unique feeding strategies using 3D-kinematics. iScience 25(1).
Plotnick, R. E., and Bicknell, R. D. C., 2022, The eurypterid endostoma and its homology with other chelicerate structures: Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, v. 63, no. 2, p. 91-109.
Plotnick, R. E., and Lamsdell, J. C., 2022, Eurypterids from the Price Formation of Virginia: first eurypterids from the Mississippian of North America: Journal of Paleontology 97(1):167-171.
Plotnick, R. E., and McCarroll, S., 2023, Variation and taphonomic implications of composition in modern and fossil malacostracan cuticles (Decapoda: Malacostraca): Journal of Crustacean Biology, v. 43, no. 3.
Bicknell, R. D. C., Lenny, K., and Plotnick, R. E., 2023, Ex vivo three-dimensional reconstruction of Acutiramus : a giant pterygotid sea scorpion: American Museum Novitates, v. 4004, p. 20.
Functional Morphology
Plotnick, R. 1985. Lift-based mechanisms for swimming in eurypterids and portunid crabs. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 76(2-3):325-337.
Plotnick, R. and T. Baumiller, 1988. The pterygotid telson as a biological rudder. Lethaia, 21:13-27.
Baumiller, T. K., and R. E. Plotnick. 1989. Rotational stability in stalked crinoids and the function of wing plates in Pterotocrinus depressus. Lethaia 22(3):317-326.
Wetmore, K. L., and R. E. Plotnick. 1992. Correlations between test morphology, crushing strength, and habitat in Amphistegina gibbosa, Archaias angulatus, and Laevipeneroplis proteus from Bermuda. Journal of Foraminiferal Research 22(1):1-12.
Plotnick, R. and T. Baumiller. 2000. Invention by evolution: functional analysis in paleobiology. Pp. 305-323 In: Erwin, D.H. and S. L. Wing, eds. Deep Time: Paleobiology’s Perspective. (Supplement to vol. 26(4) of Paleobiology). Paleontological Society.
Singer, A., R. Plotnick, and M. Laflamme. 2012. Experimental fluid mechanics of an Ediacaran frond. Palaeontologia Electronica 15(2).
Plotnick, R., B. F. Dattilo, D. Piquard, J. Bauer, and J. Corrie. 2013. The orientation of strophomenid brachiopods on soft substrates. Journal of Paleontology 87(5):818-825. Online publication of this article made possible by financial support from the Research Open Access Publishing (ROAAP) Fund of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Plotnick, R. E., and J. Bauer. 2014. Crinoids aweigh: experimental biomechanics of Ancyrocrinus holdfasts. . Pp. 1-18. In D. I. Hembree, B. F. Platt, and J. J. Smith, eds. Experimental Approaches to Understanding Fossil Organisms. Springer, Dordrecht.
Plotnick, R. E., C. M. Ebey, and A. Zinga. 2016. A radicle solution: morphology and biomechanics of the Eucalyptocrinites ‘root’ system. Lethaia 49(1):130-144.
Taphonomy
Plotnick, R., 1986. Taphonomy of a modern shrimp: implications for the arthropod fossil record. PALAIOS 1:286-293.
Plotnick, R., Baumiller, T., and Wetmore, K., 1988. Fossilization potential of the mud crab Panopeus (Brachyura: Xanthidae) and time dependence in crustacean taphonomy. Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology, 63:27-43.
Plotnick, R. E., S. McCarroll, and E. Powell. 1990. Crab death assemblages from Laguna Madre and vicinity, Texas. PALAIOS 5:81-87.
Plotnick, R. E. 1993. Taphonomy: perfecting the fossil record. Geotimes 38(11):14-16.
Behrensmeyer, A. K., F. T. Fürsich, R. A. Gastaldo, S. M. Kidwell, M. A. Kosnik, M. Kowalewski, R. E. Plotnick, R, R. Rogers, J. Alroy 2005. Are the most durable taxa also the most common in the fossil record? Paleobiology 31: 591-606
Kosnik, M.A., A.K. Behrensmeyer, F.T. Fürsich, R.A. Gastaldo, S.M. Kidwell, M. Kowalewski, R.E. Plotnick, R.R. Rogers, P.J. Wagner and J. Alroy. 2011. Changes in the shell durability of common marine taxa through the Phanerozoic: evidence for biological rather than taphonomic drivers. Paleobiology 37(2):303-331.
Cody, G. D., N. S. Gupta, D. E. G. Briggs, A. L. D. Kilcoyne, R. E.Summons, F. Kenig, R. E. Plotnick, A. C. Scott. 2011. A molecular signature of chitin-protein complex in Paleozoic arthropods. Geology 39(3): 255–258
Fraser, W. T., A. C. Scott, A. E. S. Forbes, I. J. Glasspool, R. E. Plotnick, F. Kenig, and B. H. Lomax. 2012. Evolutionary stasis of sporopollenin biochemistry revealed by unaltered Pennsylvanian spores. New Phytologist 196(2):397-401.
Boblitt, C. M., R. E. Plotnick, F. Kenig, and D. Meyer-Dombard. 2018. Determining taphonomic controls and rates of decay in cave environments using microcosms. PALAIOS 33(4):141-153.
Trace Fossils and the Evolution of Sensory Behavior
Plotnick, R. 2003. Ecological and L-system based simulations of trace fossils. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 192: 45-58
Honeycutt, C. and Plotnick R. 2005. Mathematical analysis of Paleodictyon: a graph theory approach. Lethaia 38:345-350
Koy, K. and R. Plotnick 2007. Theoretical and experimental ichnology of mobile foraging. in . Miller III, W. Trace Fossils: Concepts, Problems and Prospects Elsevier.
Plotnick, R. 2007. Chemoreception, odor landscapes, and foraging in ancient marine landscapes. Palaeontologia Electronica, 10, (1); 1A:11p, 1.48MB; http://palaeo-electronica.org/2007_1/marine/marine.pdf
Honeycutt, C. E., and R. Plotnick. 2008. Image analysis techniques and gray-level co-occurrence matrices (GLCM) for calculating bioturbation indices and characterizing biogenic sedimentary structures. Computers & Geosciences 34(11):1461-1472.
Koy, K. and R. Plotnick 2009. Effect of the odorant of the predatory flatworm Dugesia gonocephala on the foraging behavior of Caenorhabditis elegans. Journal of Nematology.40(4): 286-289
Plotnick, R., S. Q. Dornbos, and J. Chen. 2010. Information landscapes and sensory ecology of the Cambrian Radiation. Paleobiology 36(2):303-317.
Koy, K., and R. E. Plotnick. 2010. Ichnofossil morphology as a response to resource distribution: insights from modern invertebrate foraging. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292:272–281
Plotnick, R. 2012. Behavioral biology of trace fossils. Paleobiology. 38(3): 459–473. Online publication of this article made possible by financial support from the Research Open Access Publishing (ROAAP) Fund of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Hsieh, S., Schassburger, A., and Plotnick, R. E. 2019. The modern and fossil record of farming behavior. Paleobiology. 45(3):395-404.
Hsieh, S., and R. E. Plotnick. 2020. The representation of animal behaviour in the fossil record. Animal Behaviour 169:65-80.
Hsieh, S., R. E. Plotnick, and A. M. Bush. 2022. The Phanerozoic aftermath of the Cambrian information revolution: sensory and cognitive complexity in marine faunas. Paleobiology:48(3):397-419.
Fractals and Numerical Methods
Plotnick, R. 1986. A fractal model for the distribution of stratigraphic hiatuses. J. Geol. 94:885-890
Plotnick, R., 1989. Application of bootstrap methods to reduced major axis line fitting. Systematic Zoology, 38:144-153.
Plotnick, R. and K. Prestegaard, 1993. Fractal analysis of geologic time series. p. 207-224 IN Lam, N. and DeCola, L. eds. Fractals in Geography.
Plotnick, R. and K. Prestegaard. 1995. Fractal methods for the analysis of stratigraphic sequences. p. 73-96. IN: C. Barton and P. LaPointe, eds. Fractals in Petroleum Geology and Earth Processes. Plenum.
Prestegaard, K. and R. Plotnick. 1995. New models require new data: multifractal models of gravel bedload transport. p. 113-126 IN C. Barton and P. LaPointe, eds. Fractals in Petroleum Geology and Earth Processes. Plenum
Middleton, G., R. Plotnick, and D. Rubin. 1995. Nonlinear Dynamics and Fractals: New Numerical Techniques for Sedimentary Data. SEPM Short Course 36.
Plotnick, R., R. Gardner, W. Hargrove, M. Perlmutter, and K. Prestegaard. 1996. Lacunarity analysis: a general technique for the analysis of spatial patterns. Physical Review E, 53:5461-5468.
Jiang, J. and R. Plotnick. 1998. Fractal analysis of the coastlines of the United States. Mathematical Geology, 30: 535-546
Honeycutt, C. E., R. E. Plotnick, and F. Kenig. 2014. Breaking free from the matrix: Segmentation of fossil images. Palaeontologia Electronica 17(3):1-18.
Plotnick, R. E. 2017. Recurrent hierarchical patterns and the fractal distribution of fossil localities. Geology 45(4):295-298.
Dombard, A.J., W. S. Tucker, R. Joniak, R. E. Plotnick. 2022 Spherical multi-lacunarity reveals possible equatorial-polar differences in crater densities on the dwarf planet Ceres. Icarus. 84:115076
Macroevolution, the Fossil Record, and the Anthropocene
Plotnick, R. E. 1980. Relationship between biological extinctions and geomagnetic reversals. Geology 8(12):578-581.
Plotnick, R. and M. McKinney. 1993. Ecosystem organization and extinction dynamics. PALAIOS, 8:202-212.
Plotnick, R. 1996. The ecological play and the geological theater. PALAIOS 11(3):207-208.
Aronson, R. and R. Plotnick. 1998. Coordinated stasis and community integration: a scale-independent interpretation of macroevolutionary dynamics. P. 430-450 IN McKinney, M. & J. Drake (ed.). Biodiversity Dynamics. Columbia.
Plotnick. R. and J.J. Sepkoski, Jr. 2001. A multifractal model for originations and extinctions . Paleobiology, 27:126-139.
Plotnick, R. and P. Wagner, 2006. Round up the usual suspects: common genera in the fossil record and the nature of wastebasket taxa. Paleobiology 32(1):126-146.
Plotnick, R. E., F. A. Smith, and S. K. Lyons. 2016. Fossil record of the Sixth Extinction. Ecology Letters. 19(5): 546-553.
Wagner, P., R. E. Plotnick, and S. K. Lyons. 2018. Evidence for trait-based dominance in occupancy among fossil taxa and the decoupling of macroecological and macroevolutionary success. The American Naturalist 192(3): E120-E138. .
Plotnick, R. E., and P. Wagner. 2018. The greatest hits of all time: the histories of dominant genera in the fossil record. Paleobiology: https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2018.15
Plotnick, R. E., and K. A. Koy. 2020. The Anthropocene fossil record of terrestrial mammals. Anthropocene 29:100233.
Plotnick, R. E. 2023. Disengaging with the past: extinction and resets of the biosphere. p. 205-216 In Dover, P. M. Engaging with the Past and Present. Routledge Press
Landscape and Spatial Ecology
Plotnick, R. and R. Gardner. 1993. Lattices and landscapes. pp. 129-162 IN Gardner, R., ed. Some Mathematical Questions in Biology: Predicting Spatial Effects in Ecological Systems. American Mathematical Society.
Plotnick, R., G. Gardner, and R. V. O'Neill 1993. Lacunarity indices as measures of landscape texture. Landscape Ecology, 8:201-211.
Plotnick, R. and R. Gardner. 2002. A general model for simulating the effects of landscape heterogeneity and disturbance on community patterns. Ecological Modeling, 147: 171-197
Gardner, R., J Forester and R. Plotnick 2007. Determining pattern-process relationship in heterogeneous landscapes. IN: J. Wu and R. Hobbs, eds. Key Topics in Landscape Ecology. Cambridge Studies in Landscape Ecology.
Pasterski, M. J., A. Bellagamba, S. Chancellor, A. Cunje, E. Dodd , K. Gefeke, S. Hsieh, A. Schassburger, A. Smith, W. Tucker, and R. E. Plotnick. 2020. Aquatic landscape change, extirpations, and introductions in the Chicago Region. Urban Ecosystems. 23: 1277-1288. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-020-01001-6
Quantitative Stratigraphy
Plotnick, R. 1999. Landscape ecology and quantitative stratigraphy: parallel perspectives on spatial heterogeneity. Pp.271-278 IN: Harbaugh, et al., eds. Numerical Experiments in Stratigraphy, SEPM Special Publications, no. 62
Perlmutter, M., and R. Plotnick. 2002. Predictable Variations in the Marine Stratigraphic Record of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and Reservoir Potential. Gulf Coast Section SEPM Proceedings 22:231-256.
Perlmutter, M.A. and R.E. Plotnick, 2003. Hemispheric asymmetry of the stratigraphic record: conceptual proof of unipolar glaciation, in C.B Cecil and N. T. Edgar (ed.), Climate Controls on Stratigraphy, SEPM Spec. Pub. 77: 51-68
Zhang, T. and R. Plotnick. 2006. Graphic correlation using genetic algorithms. Mathematical Geology:38(7): 781-800
Plotnick, R. E. 2016. Lattice models in ecology, paleontology, and geology. IN: Autogenic Dynamics and Self-Organization in Sedimentary Systems. SEPM Special Publication 106.: 83-94.
Paleokarsts
Glasspool, I.J., Collinson,M.E. Scott, A.C. Brain, A.T. Plotnick, R.E. and Kenig F. 2009. An ultrastructural investigation of early Middle Pennsylvanian megaspores from the Illinois Basin, USA..Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 156:62–78
Plotnick, R. E., F. Kenig, A. C. Scott, I. J. Glasspool, C. F. Eble, and W.J. Lang 2009. Pennsylvanian paleokarst and fills from northern Illinois, U.S.A.: a window into Late Carboniferous environments and landscapes. PALAIOS 24:627-637.
Scott, A. C., F. Kenig, Plotnick, R. E., I. J. Glasspool, W. Chaloner, C. F. Eble 2010. Evidence of multiple Late Bashkirian to Early Moscovian (Pennsylvanian) fire events preserved in contemporaneous cave fills. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 291:72–84
Plotnick, R. E., F. Kenig, and A. C. Scott. 2015. Using the voids to fill the gaps: Caves, time, and stratigraphy. Pp. 233-250. In D. G. Smith, R. J. Bailey, P. M. Burgess, and A. J. Fraser, eds. Strata and Time: Probing the Gaps in Our Understanding. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 404.
Science Education and Outreach
Plotnick, R. 1999. Creating models for interpreting data. Pp. 343-360 IN J. Scotchmoor and D. Springer, eds. Evolution: Investigating the Evidence. Paleontological Society Special Publication 9.
Plotnick, R. E. 2008. A somewhat fuzzy snapshot of employment in paleontology in the United States. Palaeontologia Electronica 11(1).
Varelas, M. Plotnick, R. Wink, D., Fan, Q. Harris, Y. 2008. Inquiry and connections in integrated science content courses for elementary education majors. J. College Science Teaching. 37(5):40-47.
Plotnick, R., Varelas, M. and Fan, Q. 2009. Physical World: an integrated earth science, astronomy and physics course for elementary education majors. Journal of Geoscience Education, 57(2):152-158. pdf
Plotnick, R. E., A. L. Stigall, and I. Stefanescu. 2014. Evolution of Paleontology: Long-term gender trends in an earth-science discipline GSA Today 24(11):44-45.
Plotnick, R., J. Theodor, and T. Holtz. 2015. Jurassic Pork: What Could a Jewish Time Traveler Eat? Evolution: Education and Outreach 8(1):17.
Other
Plotnick, R., and G. Harris. 1989. X-Ray analysis using energy dispersive and wavelength dispersive spectroscopy. Pp. 179-185. In R. M. Feldmann, R. E. Chapman, and J. T. Hannibal, eds. Paleotechniques. Paleontological Society Special Publication No. 4.
Plotnick, R. 2007. SWOTTing at Paleontology. American Paleontologist, 15(4): 21-23. Posted with permission of Paleontological Research Institution.
Plotnick, R. 2008. A somewhat fuzzy snapshot of employment in paleontology in the United States. Palaeontologica Electronica, 11(1)
Plotnick, R. 2009. Out of the mainstream: U.S. science redux. Palaeontologica Electronica, 12(1)
Plotnick, R. 2010. Out of the mainstream: the World of Paleontology. Palaeontologica Electronica, 13(1)
Plotnick, R. 2011. Out of the mainstream: Fossil collecting in the 21st century. Palaeontologica Electronica, 14(1)